双语阅读：悲剧or喜剧？遥控器决定剧情走向

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女神要嫁给男一还是男二？大结局应该以悲剧还是喜剧收场？每次热门剧开播后，观众都为此争论不休，以至于不少导演干脆给电视剧拍两三个大结局，最后再决定播放哪个。如今，网飞公司干脆把决定权交给了观众自己，观众拿着遥控器，就可以“指挥”剧情走向，不满意了还可以跳回去重选。

Whether you love happy endings or a harsh blast of reality in TV dramas, you could soon be able to decide what you get.

不论你喜欢什么类型的电视剧，大团圆结局的，还是揭露残酷事实的，很快你将能决定电视剧的剧情。

Netflix, the TV-streaming company behind hit shows such as The Crown and House Of Cards, is working on ways to give viewers control of key plot decisions.

网飞公司正在探索将电视剧关键情节决定权交给观众的方法。这家电视流媒体公司打造了《王冠》和《纸牌屋》等热播剧。

Some of the storylines will be simple and linear, like the Choose Your Own Adventure books many grew up with.

一些故事情节将会是简单而线性的，就像童年读物《选择自己的冒险》系列丛书一样。

For example, viewers might decide whether an inmate in the prison drama Orange Is The New Black joins a gang or not.

例如，观众可以决定美剧《女子监狱》里的犯人是否加入了黑帮。

The technology could also potentially be used to allow Princess Margaret to marry Peter Townsend in The Crown, instead of having her relationship with the divorcee blocked by the Establishment. Other storylines will be much more complex, allowing viewers to connect plot points in a variety of ways using their TV remotes.

这项技术也可以使《王冠》里的玛格丽特公主嫁给离过婚的彼得•汤森，而不受国教的阻挠。其它的故事情节将会更加复杂，观众可以通过电视遥控器以各种方式连接情节。

A source said: ‘We’re doing work on branch narratives so you are actually making choices as you watch. All the content will be there, and then people will have to get through it in different ways.

一位消息人士称：“我们正在做分支叙事的工作，这样观众就能在观看时做出选择。所有的内容都摆在那里，观众可以用不同的方式打开。”

‘We’ll see how it plays out. It’s an experiment. We’ll see if it gets much success. For creators, it’s new territory.’

“我们会关注它的后续发展。我们将通过这个实验来看它是否能成功。对于创造者而言，这是个新的领域。”

Actors would film numerous alternate plot segment in advance, letting viewers choose which route to take through the story.

演员们将预先拍摄好大量的情节片段，供观众选择故事的展开方式。

The most complex versions could turn back on themselves, so viewers could in theory watch dramas that are ‘infinite’.

在最复杂的版本里，已有的情节可以被逆转，因而理论上，观众看到的剧情可以有“无限的”可能。

‘It is almost random – you could go through a story in incredibly weird ways,’ the source said. ‘I can’t imagine what the story will be like but it’s highly fragmented.’

“这是很随意的—你可以用无比奇怪的方式展开故事，”这位消息人士说。“我无法想象故事的走向，只知道它是高度碎片化的。”

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Netflix will run a trial with choose-your-own-adventure shows for children later this year, based on an established character.

今年晚些时候，网飞公司将基于一个已经塑造出的角色，试运行一档名为“选择自己的冒险”的儿童节目。

If they are successful, it will use the format for TV programmes aimed at adults. It has not said whether it would apply the format to established series, or use it exclusively for new ones.

如果节目成功了，这一版式将会被用在成人电视节目中。现在还不清楚这一版式是否也会用在已经完结的连续剧中，或是专门用在新剧集里。

Netflix president Reed Hastings confirmed the company is working on interactive shows, saying: ‘Once you have got interactivity you can try anything.’

网飞公司总裁雷德•哈斯汀斯证实，该公司确实在研发交互节目，他说：“一旦具备了交互性，你可以尝试任何事物。”

At least five million UK households are thought to be signed up to Netflix, and it is challenging traditional broadcasters.

至少有500万英国家庭订阅了网飞公司的服务，这挑战了英国老牌广播公司的地位。

Earlier this year, BBC boss Lord Hall vowed to ‘reinvent’ the iPlayer so it overtakes Netflix as a ‘destination’ in its own right, rather than a catch-up service.

今年早些时候，BBC的老板罗德•霍尔发誓要“重造”iPlayer播放器，以超越网飞公司为目标，而不只是要迎头赶上。

英文来源：每日邮报（中国日报网）